Finding the Most Suitable Abrasive Belt for your Application

Over the past almost thirty years, our abrasive belt production & sales teams have solved many problems for our customers, including helping them to choose the right sanding belt for their particular application. Whether you are smoothing or polishing, grinding or sanding, finishing or linishing, there are many good choices of sanding materials out there, but which is the BEST one for you?

Let’s break them down…

Aluminium Oxide is the most versatile abrasive and can be used on wood and metals but when sanding harder metals such as titanium or stainless steel, aluminium oxide would wear more quickly than for example Ceramic or Zirconia.

Silicon carbide removes material more quickly than aluminium oxide but will wear more quickly. It can be used on wood, plastic, metal, stone or glass for rough sanding, removing paint or rust and sanding between coats when finishing. It can also be used on plasterboard to smooth before painting.

Zirconia suits coarse to medium grit applications on hard metals including stainless steel. Its heavy-duty polyester backing makes it ideal for tube notching and metal grinding. It performs really well under high pressure as this leads to the grain being fractured and exposing new sharp edges.

Ceramic is also very suitable for stainless steel and other hard metals. In addition, it is top coated for cooler grinding. This gives it superior performance and longer life. It removes metal faster than aluminium oxide or silicon carbide and its grain also re-shapes as it wears which enables it re remain effective until completely worn.

Surface Conditioning (non-woven) works really well when you need to carry out finer finishing like blending, cleaning and deburring.

This is all good information, but deciding on the best abrasive material for you can also depend on your application; the shape of the piece you are working on, the speed and pressure of the machine you are using and the environment you are in. That is where our experience and manufacturing capabilities can help you.

If you need help, we would be only too delighted to guide you. Please don’t hesitate to complete our belt enquiry form or call us on (049) 5552340 or email sales@abconireland.com. Whatever suits you best.

Our belts are manufactured in and shipped from our factory in Cootehill, Co Cavan so lead times are really fast and you won’t have any unexpected delivery or customs charges or paperwork. Contact us today to order or for a quotation. We look forward to hearing from you!